Liquid opens tap on Kenya and Ethiopia fibre link

Pan-African digital infrastructure provider Liquid Intelligent Technologies has launched two fully redundant terrestrial networking routes connecting Kenya to Ethiopia and Zambia to Malawi, calling it a significant achievement that will allow for greater efficiency and reliable regional connectivity, both key to the economic development of these countries.

Spanning over 1,000km, the fibre link between Kenya and Ethiopia is designed to offer businesses in Ethiopia access to datacentres and cloud in Nairobi, Kenya, ensuring that data doesn’t leave the continent. In addition, the link is further supported by the cross-border 711km link between Zambia and Malawi, providing a direct and reliable connection to content caches and datacentres in South Africa.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies is confident that the new fibre network will provide Kenya and Ethiopia with measurable benefits in terms of connectivity performance and accessibility as it connects the underserved towns of Suswa, Sereolipi, Ndaragwa and Marsabit, as well as capital Nairobi and Mega, a town in southern Ethiopia.

Moreover, Liquid said it was aiming to catalyse African growth through its intelligent fibre backbone, providing cost-effective, regional internet connectivity that enhances digital transformation. These milestones foster richer economic and technological ties across countries and the continent, helping African companies and individuals realise their potential within the digital economy on a local and global scale.

In partnership with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO) and Ethiopia Electric Power (EEP), Liquid’s new Nairobi and Mega link provides a capacity of 4TBps (terabytes per second). Complementing the existing terrestrial routes across this border, the Kenya-Ethiopia route will now have what is claimed to be carrier-grade connectivity, which serves to rapidly expand data traffic on this important route. As Liquid increases its investment in Ethiopia, it expands on its long-standing commitment to ignite transformation, job creation and growth on the continent.

“Kenyan and Ethiopian businesses are rapidly adopting digital technologies, and this new link will enable trade and investment between these two great nations in our region,” said Adil El Youssefi, CEO Rest of Africa at Liquid Intelligent Technologies. “For Liquid Kenya, we see this growing demand being catalysed by the Kenya Kwanza Government’s Digital Superhighway Initiative, and this 1,000km of newly lit fibre is our first contribution to the private sector investment into this flagship project.”

Cassava Technologies president and group CEO Hardy Pemhiwa added: “All initiatives undertaken by businesses under Cassava Technologies work towards realising our vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. The completion of these fibre links is yet another milestone achieved by Liquid as it continues to lay the foundations of economic growth through increased access to high-speed connectivity.”